AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I told J.T. I’d tell him tonight. So, that’s what I’m going to do.”
“Good. I think the sooner, the better.” She nodded in agreement and he asked, “What does your father think about you being back and coming clean?”
“He’ll never admit he was wrong. And I wish going into business with him wasn’t the only way to allow me to come back here. But it was. And I’ll have to deal with him in that regard. But I’ll never forget what he did. I’m trying to get along with him, for Finn’s sake. Though I’m glad our family grew by seven tonight.”
“The O’Connells are here for you.”
“Thank you.” She looked out at the pink sky. “And congratulations on your marriage. Ember is great.”
Jake nodded. “Yeah. She is pretty great. She’s not too sure about being a grandma at her age, though.”
“Finn can call her whatever makes her comfortable.”
He took a sip of his coffee. “We’re thinking about adopting the name I used to call my grandmother. Noko. Which is short for Nokomis, the Chippewa name for grandmother.”
Joey thought about it for a moment. “I like that.”
“Noko Esty had quite an influence on my life and it’d be nice to carry on the name.”
“If Ember’s okay with it, then it sounds great to me.”
Jake smiled. “Let’s go with that, then.”
“And you’re okay with being called grandpa?”
His smile turned into a grin. “Yeah. Although, I don’t know if J.T. mentioned it or not. Ember and I are expecting a child. So the timing is a little weird.”
Joey nodded. “He did tell me. That’s wonderful news.”
“Yeah. I think so, too.”
When the front door opened, they saw J.T. come through it with a beer in his hand. “Just thought I’d come check on you two.”
Jake laughed. “We’re all good, son.”
“Finn and Ember are dishing up some ice cream. She sent me out here to see if you wanted some.”
“I won’t say no to ice cream. How about you, Joey?”
“Sounds good.”
Joey and Finn left not long after the ice cream was eaten, and after thanking his father, Ember, and granddad, J.T. left to go home to his trailer. It had been a good night. It seemed everyone was willing to put Joey’s deception aside for the sake of Finn. He was grateful, and he hoped he could be as forgiving as they all were.
He tried to watch a DVD but couldn’t concentrate on it. He then tried to read with the same result. So he took a long shower, then laid awake in bed, wondering if Joey actually went through with telling Finn. He figured the boy would be fine with it. He was young and wouldn’t really think about why he was just meeting his father. He’d just go with it. And as long as no oneelse caused any issues, then all would be well, and they’d go on from here.
The fact he was a father still hadn’t completely sunk in. He knew someday he’d want kids. But this wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. But it did happen this way, and now he’d have to deal with it.
It took him another two hours to fall asleep. The phone ringing woke him up.
“Hello?”
“Hi. It’s me, Joey.”
“What time is it?”
“Did I wake you?”
J.T. sat up. “I had trouble falling asleep. What’s up?”
